Title: All that Glitters - Part 4a
By: Miki
E-mail: aya_miki@hotmail.com
Rating: G
Genre: Romance
Standard Disclaimer Apply
Although I was still a bit perturbed by Mina's remark, I
called Bernie at Hair Creations right after school. She said
she had an opening at five o'clock if I wanted to take it. I
figured that I might as well make the change in my hair right
away. That would show Darien and his dad that I was taking the
Golden Girl job seriously. And anyway, that was obviously how
I was going to have to keep my relationship with Darien. After
all, according to Mina, Darien was already taken.
I was very nervous when I walked into Hair Creations at
five, though, carrying the magazine that Darien had given me.
I'd had my hair cut a few times at beauty salons, but usually
my mom just trimmed the ends for me at home. I wished Molly
could have been there with me, but she'd promised to help her
mother with some errands.
I waited at the reception desk, and looked around the
sleek shop. There were eight stations at various places in the
room, each having a chair, counter, and mirror. Five of them
were now occupied with hairdressers and their clients. The
shop had a lot of long windows and a line of skylights
overhead, and there were green plants hanging from the ceiling
and tucked into every conceivable corner. The place had a big,
quality quality, in spite of the smell of chemicals thatfilled the room.
A small, dark-haired woman approached me. "May I help
you?" she asked. She wore a name tag that read BERNIE.
"Hi," I said. "I'm Serena Montgomery. I'm your fiveo'clock appointment."
She brightened. "So you're the new Golden Girl. I talked
with Darien Riley yesterday, and he told me all about you."
I handed her the magazine. "Darien said I should ask for
a style similar to this one." I watched her face for her
reaction. She studied the picture and then looked up at me and
back at the picture. "Do you think you can make me look likethis?"
"Yes, I think you'll look quite attractive in this
style," she said, nodding her approval.
"Boy, I hope you're right. I don't want to be the
laughingstock of Lincoln High."
She patted my hand, laughing, and led me to a chair next
to a sink. She washed my hair, toweled it off, and then had me
move to her station, where she combed out my hair.
Ordinarily, I love going to the beauty salon and having
someone work on my hair. It's so luxurious just sitting there
while someone gently washes and styles it.
But today I was very nervous. I was afraid that I'd made
a big mistake by allowing Darien to have so much control over
my appearance. What if he was wrong about the new style and I
looked awful? What if Bernie made a big mistake and my hair
came out looking lopsided or something?
If that happens, I decided, I just won't go to school
tomorrow. I'd suddenly get a sore throat and stay home in bed
while I figured out how I could convince my family to move toa different town.
Bernie trimmed about two inches off the ends of my hair
and layered the rest around my face. I kept a close watch, but
it didn't look like she was doing anything very radical.
Then she got out her plastic perm rods and rolled them
tightly into my hair. She squirted a smelly solution into them
and had me sit under the drier. While the warm air blew on my
head, I read Seventeen magazine and studied the models on
every page. Their hair, makeup, and clothes interested me much
more than they usually did, because of my new job. They were
all so beautiful and poised. It was interesting but incredibly
depressing at the same time--a whole magazine filled with MinaBoyson clones!
"Yuck," I said, and tossed the magazine on the tablenext to me.
Bernie came back then and took me to the sink. She put
some more stuff on my hair, waited five minutes, then rinsed
it again and toweled it off. After I spent another twenty
minutes under the drier, she took me to her chair again.
I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time. The
perm made it look as if I had suddenly sprouted twice as muchhair.
Bernie combed my hair out, using a hair pick. She
stepped back a bit and looked at me in the mirror.
"I think I'll use the curling iron on you," she said.
"That'll tone down the frizziness of the new perm and createbig waves."
I watched he take sections of my hair and roll them up
in the warm iron. It took about ten minutes. Then shecarefully combed it out.
"Voila!" she said, standing back to admire her work. "My
goodness, Darien Riley was right, wasn't he? This hairstyle
really suits your face well."
I can't believe how different I looked! I never wouldn't
known that my lackluster hair could be so full and look soglamorous.
"You see," Bernie said, "this style helps to give your
face some definition." She smiled warmly. "You have lovely
eyes, dear. Shorter hair emphasizes your features."
I'm sure my blushing revealed that I wasn't accustomed
to compliments. Mothers don't count.
"Thank you," I said, hurriedly. "You do good work. Uh,
do you have a curling iron that I could buy from you?" Iasked.
"Surely," Bernie said as she led the way to thereceptionist's desk.
I paid her for the curling iron and put on my coat.
Bernie told me that the salon had donated its services for the
contest. She followed me to the door. "You like the new style?"
"Oh, yes, I love it!" I said. "I can't believe it's me!"
"It's you, all right." She grinned. "I hope Darien Riley
is ready to see his new Golden Girl. I think he's going to bevery pleased."
"Thanks," I said. She waved as I opened the door. "See you on TV!" she
called after me.
I hoped on the bus and rode it directly to the mall to
meet Darien. It was a good thing I'd told Mom I wouldn't have
time to get home for dinner. Who could eat at a time like
this, anyway? I was so nervous about meeting him!
I hurried to the mall's rest room and combed my hair.
The wind had blown it around, so it didn't look as perfect as
it had in the salon, but it still looked good. I just hoped
Darien thought so.
I found him sitting on the edge of the fountain right
outside of Trent's Department Store. When he saw me, he looked
confused for a moment, then stood up and broke into a biggrin.
"What did I tell you?" he said, standing back to get a
better look at me. "Turn around."
I slowly turned in front of him and he nodded. "You look
great."
My blush for Bernie was just a warm-up for what my face
did then. I mean, we're talking fire-engine red. I tried to
sound cool. "Hey, thanks," I said.
Darien laughed. "It'd be fun to follow you around at
school tomorrow and see all the heads turn when you walk by."
I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Oh, right."
"No, I'm not kidding," Darien said. "I can think of a
couple of girls who are going to be really upset."
"You couldn't possibly be referring to Mina Boyson,
could you?" I asked, smiling.
"Mina Boyson? Jealous?" Darien said, his grin widening.
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